The name Yishmael, which was given by the Eternal to this son of Avraham, means "the Mighty One will listen". Hagar's cry of affliction was heard by the Eternal and precisely because of that the boy received the name Yishmael (16:11). Then, the Eternal heard the voice of the boy when he was crying and about to die (21:17).

Yishmael knows how to cry out. His descendants, the Arab people, shout a lot. The Eternal gave him the ability to cry out. The name Yishmael contains a prophecy about his ending; he will cry out and the Mighty One will hear his shout. It will first be a cry for help, like that time when he was about to die, because many griefs will fall upon the Arab countries in the last days, as it is written in Daniel 11:40-44: "And at the time of the end shall the king of the south (Egypt) push at him: and the king of the north (Syria) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon (The actual Jordan). He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many" (KJV)

The Arab countries, especially Egypt, will undergo many sufferings due to the wars that will come at the time of the end. This will produce a strong cry among them. But the cry will change in tone and a very different cry will finally come out from Yishmael's mouth. Instead of shouting with hatred against his brother Yitzchak and blaming him for all that he himself is going through, or shout because of the wars he is suffering, he will start crying out to Heaven – not to Islam's false god – but to the Mighty One of Israel. And then He will listen and respond, as it is written in Isaiah 19:22: "And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them." (ESV)